EHarmony.com Patents Matchmaking Formula

When will this patenting madness stop in….or rather where? I’m all for protecting intellectual property, but not something which is almost in public domain..

EHarmony.com this month received U.S. Patent No. 6,735,568, which describes a “method and system for identifying people who are likely to have a successful relationship.” According to the company, “eHarmony’s patented matching approach applies data from extensive clinical research to predict which people are most likely to be compatible for long-term relationship satisfaction”. Then company has also launched a “research initiative“…

Not surprisingly, critics and competitors trash eHarmony’s process as overly scientific — some dismissing the so-called “love patent” as gimmicky. Tim Miller, president of Match.com: “We find these claims to be … ridiculous at best.”